Jennifer Warnes, “Could
It Be Love,” #47, 1/23/82
Poor Jennifer Warnes.
She’s had a long and varied career (she was a regular on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour when
she was just 21), but she’ll probably always be known for singing those duets
on movie soundtracks. (She’s been
nominated for four Academy Awards for her movie themes, winning three
times.) This song, however, wasn’t on a
movie soundtrack, or apparently even an album other than greatest hits sets –
the label on the 45 doesn’t say anything about “From the forthcoming LP Blah Blah Blah,” so I’ve got to think it
was a standalone that only would have made it onto an album if it was a bigger
hit. (And, no, I don't know why the only available video shows scenes from Gossip Girl.)
Bob Seger, “Feel Like
a Number,” #48, 1/23/82
Second single from the live album Nine Tonight, which was Seger’s second live album (his first, the
classic Live Bullet, came out five
and a half years before). Not sure why
this was chosen as the next single after “Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You”
became a top five hit, as it had gotten lots of AOR airplay as an album cut three
years before when it had been on Stranger
in Town, and the title track, to my knowledge, had never been on a studio
album. (Sorry, but you're getting the studio version here - I refuse to post one of the bootleg live versions recorded from an iPhone.)
Sheila, “Little
Darlin’,” #49, 1/23/82
First of all, her real name is Annie Chancel; she took the
stage name “Sheila” in the early 1960s after the name in a song by Tommy
Roe. Second, she’s been a star in France
for about a half century, but this is her one hit in the United States (an
attempt to join the disco bandwagon in the late 1970s, under the name Sheila
and B. Devotion, didn’t really take, despite one of her albums being produced
by Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards).
She goes the straight pop-rock route here; after that, it was back to
singing in French. (Maybe they spent all
the money she made on dry ice.)
Kiss, “A Word Without
Heroes,” #56, 1/23/82
After the flop album Unmasked
and single “Shandi” in 1980, Kiss decided to try something different – and so,
the concept album Music From “The Elder” was
born. Produced by Bob Ezrin (who had
just worked on Pink Floyd’s The Wall),
the concept wasn’t embraced by the band (especially Ace Frehley, who was going
through his own problems at the time), the label (Casablanca, which was
struggling), or the fans. As a result,
the single flopped, and the album is the only Kiss release not to go gold. After this, Kiss stuck for the most part with
rockers.
Daryl Hall & John
Oates, “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” #1, 1/30/82
Huge hit for Hall and Oates, following up the equally huge “Private
Eyes.” This hit #1 on the pop and soul
charts, which I believe was a first for a white act (it hit #1 in dance club
play as well). In his usual modest way,
Hall wrote in his diary after this achievement, "I'm the head soul brother
in the U.S. Where to now?" But it
has been sampled or remade plenty of times, so I suppose he’s entitled to a
little braggadocio.
The Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra, “Hooked on Classics,” #10, 1/30/82
If you’re thinking this is the way to introduce your child
to classical music, please think again.
Louis Clark, who had been doing arrangements for Electric Light
Orchestra until Jeff Lynne decided to get rid of the violins and use a
synthesizer instead, put together this track by having the Royal Philharmonic
play just the most famous parts of the most famous classical pieces (“Flight of
the Bumblebee,” the Hallelujah Chorus by Handel, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,”
etc.), splicing them together, and adding a drum track. Cute a couple of times, but annoying when
played every four hours on top 40 radio.
Clark has still been playing with the concept recently, touring in 2011
with the English Pops Orchestra.
Barbra Streisand, “Comin’
In and Out of Your Life,” #11, 1/30/82
One of three new songs from Streisand’s third greatest hits
set (and second within three years), Memories. Although the album was somewhat unnecessary
and poorly selected (three songs were duplicated from the 1978 best-of Greatest Hits Vol. 2, while “The Love
Inside” and “New York State of Mind” weren’t even singles), this pretty ballad
(done without the help of Barry Gibb, who had produced 1980’s monster album Guilty for Streisand) would become her
last top 20 hit for fifteen years.
The Beach Boys, “Come
Go With Me,” #18, 1/30/82
Remake of the old Del-Vikings hit from 1957, and originally
included on the little-heard M.I.U. Album
(that stands for Maharishi International University, by the way), this was
plucked from the Boys’ 842nd greatest hits set Ten Years of Harmony (representing all the stuff they made after
1971, which includes almost none of their classic hits). Surprising everyone, this song became their
biggest original hit (excluding “The Beach Boys Medley” from 1981) since 1976’s
#5 hit “Rock and Roll Music” – this was especially a surprise since Ten Years of Harmony didn’t scrape into
the top 150 albums at any point. The
band was such a mess at that point – Brian Wilson was dysfunctional from drug
use, Carl was trying and failing to launch a solo career, while Dennis Wilson
and Mike Love were having issues as Dennis had gotten romantically involved
with Love’s (alleged) daughter Shawn – that this cheery song (with lead vocal
by Al Jardine) reflected only that the band’s output wasn’t anywhere near the
reality. Also the shortest song to hit the Billboard
chart in 1982, at two minutes and four seconds.
Al Jarreau, “Breakin’
Away,” #43, 1/30/82
Second single from the album of the same name, and Jarreau’s
second of eight top 100 hits. This album
featured an astonishing array of LA-based studio musicians (Jay Graydon
produced and played guitar; other players included George Duke, Michael
Boddicker, David Foster, Steve Gadd, and Jeff Porcaro and Steve Lukather from
Toto), and it would be Jarreau’s biggest hit, climbing to #9 pop and #1 soul
and jazz.
Henry Paul Band, “Keeping
Our Love Alive,” #50, 1/30/82
Paul was a singer and guitarist, originally with the
country-rock band The Outlaws (and later with the country-rock band Blackhawk),
but this band had more of a pop sound, as did this single, which would be their
only one to make the pop charts. After minimal success under his own name, Paul
would go back to the Outlaws a couple of years later.
Bill Champlin, “Tonight
Tonight,” #55, 1/30/82
Champlin would spend eight years trying to establish his
band, Sons of Champlin, but they never really caught on. After a few years as a studio musician (and
co-writing Earth, Wind and Fire’s 1979 hit “After the Love Has Gone” with David
Foster and Jay Graydon, which would win them a Grammy), Champlin would chart
twice solo in 1982, with this hit being the first. Champlin would join Chicago
later in the year.
Dave Stewart and
Barbara Gaskin, “It’s My Party,” #72, 1/30/82
Okay, first of all this isn’t the Dave Stewart from
Eurythmics; it’s a different guy.
Second, this was a huge hit in Great Britain (and precursor of the
synthpop sound that would become a mainstay of top 40 radio on both sides of
the Atlantic for the next few years), but it barely registered here in the
States. And when we think of this song
today, we still think of Lesley Gore. (Dig the countdown to the top song on the Beeb!)
Gidea Park, “Seasons of
Gold,” #82, 1/30/82
I swear, if I hear one more medley of songs with a disco
backbeat, I’m gonna puke. British band
led by Adrian Baker which strung together a bunch of old Frankie Valli and The
Four Seasons songs and charted on both sides of the pond (he had also recorded
a Beach Boys medley in 1981, but the Boys themselves srelease a version here
that would beat him to Billboard). In fairness, this was a real band, not somebody with a bunch of studio time and some soundalikes. Baker would later tour with the actual Beach
Boys and the actual Four Seasons, which should inspire musicians everywhere.
The J. Geils Band, “Centerfold,”
#1, 2/6/82
The band’s first top 10 hit made it all the way to #1 with
this risqué-at-the-time hit about a guy who discovers his high school crush is
now a model in his favorite men’s magazine.
(Because that happens all the
time.) Fun song, fun video, and
turned the band from a cult favorite to a huge concert draw – for awhile.
George Benson, “Turn
Your Love Around,” #5, 2/6/82
One of two new songs recorded for Benson’s hits set The George Benson Collection, and this
would be his second-biggest hit, topped only by 1980’s “Give Me the Night.” Cowritten by (okay, stop me if you’ve heard
this) Jay Graydon, Bill Champlin, and Steve Lukather, and it would win a Best
R&B Grammy Award as well.
Paul Davis, “Cool
Night,” #11, 2/6/82
First single from the album of the same name, and thirteenth
top 100 hit for Davis, who had been charting since 1970. Davis had been charting regularly for the
previous few years since 1978 (“I Go Crazy,” “Sweet Life,” and “Do Right” had
all hit top 30), but this ballad would be Davis’ biggest Adult Contemporary hit
and still gets airplay today.
The Rolling Stones, “Waiting
on a Friend,” #13, 2/6/82
This one had been in the can for nearly a decade, dating
from the sessions for Goat’s Head Soup
– but that’s not a shocker, as the parent album, Tattoo You, was filled with songs that were left over from other
albums (“Start Me Up,” for example, had been sitting around for six years after
being rejected for Black and Blue). Featuring a sax solo by jazz vet Sonny
Rollins, it’s a great song and should be heard more often on oldies stations
than it is now.
Del Shannon, “Sea of
Love,” #33, 2/6/82
Seventeenth and final chart hit for Shannon (although his
first since 1966’s “The Big Hurt”). It
was a remake of the old Phil Phillips song (and would be remade yet again a few
years later by Robert Plant’s band The Honeydrippers), and produced by Tom
Petty. Label issues would keep the album
hard to find for awhile (it was originally scheduled to be released by the
then-fading RSO Records, home of The Bee Gees, and would wind up released by
Network Records, which would also fold a few years later). Shannon would later record with Jeff Lynne,
and his final album Rock On would be
released posthumously two years after his 1990 suicide.
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